The United States and Germany on Wednesday announced a deal to allow the completion of a controversial Russian gas pipeline to Europe without the imposition of further US sanctions, news wires reported. Under the terms of the deal, the US and Germany committed to countering any Russian attempt to use the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as a political weapon. And, they agreed to support Ukraine and Poland, both of which are bypassed by the project and fear Russia's intentions, by funding alternative energy and development projects.

The EU's top court ruled on Thursday that Poland's system for disciplining judges undercuts the bloc's laws, news wires reported. The ruling is a part of an escalating battle over democratic rules that risks Warsaw losing some of its key development funding.

Former President of the European Council Donald Tusk will leave his role as president of the European People's Party (EPP), he said on Sunday. On Saturday he announced his return to Poland politics as leader of main opposition - Civic Platform (PO) party. Tusk has been president of the EPP grouping of centre-right European parties since 2019. He said that talks concerning his successor as EPP president would start in the autumn, Reuters reported.

Former European Council President Donald Tusk is set to make his way back to active Poland political life. Tusk is the main nomination for political leader of the opposition, Reuters elaborated. The Civic Platform hopes that Tusk will contribute for a major push in the party’s position. Tusk is one of the founders of the liberal movement known for its pro-European orientation.

Poland’s government on Monday defied an injunction by the top European Union court that ordered the immediate closure of a major brown coal mine, with officials saying it would shake the nation’s energy system and lead to the layoff of thousands of employees, news wires reported. The EU’s Court of Justice on Friday ordered Poland to immediately stop operation of the mine, heeding Prague’s complaints that it drained groundwater from Czech territory and that Poland recently extended its license without proper prior environmental assessment.

With a view towards giving Poland a post-pandemic economic boost, government politicians on Saturday presented a number of planned economic and social reforms dubbed "The Polish Deal", dpa reported. The new initiatives were presented in Warsaw during an event rife with patriotic discourse by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the governing party Law and Justice, and PM Mateusz Morawiecki.

Poland and Hungary sent to court a new EU rule that links the bloc's budget to basic democratic standards, news wires reported. The cases at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) mark a new showdown between the two EU Member States accused of democratic backsliding and Brussels. The new rule of law mechanism was built into the 2021-27 spending plan and 750-billion-euro coronavirus stimulus fund.

The Commission and MEPs accused on Wednesday Poland, Hungary and Slovenia of undermining media freedoms and launching attacks on journalists amid the COVID-19 pandemic, news wires reported.

Poland reported on Wednesday 17,260 new daily coronavirus infections, the highest number since the November 2020 pandemic peak, the Health Ministry data showed. With 398 new fatalities, Covid-19 death toll reached nearly 46,000, dpa reported.

The European Union may impose further sanctions on Belarus after Minsk jailed two journalists for filming protests, Poland's state news agency PAP quoted Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau as saying on Tuesday, Reuters reported.